March 30th

March 30, 2012

HERSHEY â€” Last Saturday, seven Punxsutawney area wrestlers traveled to Hershey to compete on Pennsylvania's largest stage for grapplers their age â€”Â the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Championship Tournament â€” and one grappler attained a long-awaited, highly-coveted prize when Kaleb Young was crowned state champion at 117 pounds in the 13- and 14-year-old class.

"We can't be happy enough for Kaleb," Punxsy coach Bill Burke said upon returning from Hershey. "I guess we can say 'the third time is a charm,' as he was a state runner-up twice previously."

March 30, 2012

CLARION â€” With lots of former PAHS athletes reaching successful accomplishments at the collegiate level of late, one former Lady Chuck has been quietly running away at Clarion Universityâ€” quite literally.

Milea Schall, a 2011 PAHS grad and long-distance event specialist, is described as a pretty quiet sort of athlete, who goes about her business by her former coach George Wehrle. But Schall has been making some noise as a freshman at Clarion, having made the transition to college athletics â€” and academics â€”Â seem quite seamless.

March 30, 2012

PUNXSUTAWNEY â€“ Just as the seasons are changing, and the landscape of Punxsutawney continues to undergo significant transformations with the construction of several new large buildings, The Punxsutawney Spirit and Jefferson County Neighbors are also undergoing major changes with the departure of publisher Mary Jude Troupe, who is retiring from the newspaper business to pursue other career opportunities.

Tracy L. Smith, a Spirit advertising representative for the past eight years, will take on the role of publisher.

March 30, 2012

PUNXSUTAWNEY â€” The process of recording music can, at times, become tedious, especially when the producer wants a performer to sing or play a certain part â€” a vocal or a drum part, for example â€” over and over again in order to catch the right take.

That wasn't the case for the duo known as Randy Paul â€” Randy Thompson and his father, Paul Thompson, a popular vocalist in this area who is also the pastor of the Cloe, Covode and Steffy United Methodist Churches.

March 30, 2012

PUNXSUTAWNEY â€” The Punxsutawney Christian and Missionary Alliance Church is offering a free showing of the movie â€śCourageousâ€ť at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the church's Family Life Center.

"Our purpose for showing the â€śCourageousâ€ť movie started out as an in-church fund-raiser for our youth group and its trip to LIFE 2013 in St. Louis, Mo.," said Melanie McBee, one of the event organizers, along with Mary Hoover and Connie Neal.

March 29th

March 29, 2012

REYNOLDSVILLE â€” Two Republican candidates seeking the 66th Legislative District seat in the state House of Representatives said Thursday night that Harrisburg regulates its constituents too much and is not pushing a conservative agenda, despite the Republican majority.

Meanwhile, the man they hope to unseat â€” incumbent House Speaker Sam Smith â€” stood on his record and as a leading voice for rural Pennsylvania.

March 29, 2012

It was a â€śCartoon Catastropheâ€ť at the 2012 Variety Show Thursday night, as Spongebob Squarepants (Kevin Byars, left) and Patrick Star (James Doverspike) took center stage amongst their cartoon friends. The Variety Show continues tonight at 7 p.m. at PAHS.

March 29, 2012

PUNXSUTAWNEY â€” Members of the Punxsutawney Area School Board say they dislike the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA ) mandating price increases for school lunches.

District Cafeteria Manager Denise Geist said the USDA eventually wants all of the school districts to get to $2.51 as the price per lunch.
She said she thinks the district should raise the price of a lunch for next year by 10 cents.

â€śWe can raise it a nickel like we did last year,â€ť Geist said, adding that the operative number for last year was $2.46 per lunch.